Disclaimer: I do not own the DC characters of Hawk and Dove, whom I loosely based my main characters on.
The boys had a lot to do in a rather small stretch of time. Hours after Louise's wedding the Trifecta boarded a plane for home, after everyone was informed of the events from the call with Connor Franta. It chilled the whole team; the Trifecta had never had such a blatant threat to their security and power before, and they were older as a whole than the MGGB. They arranged travel details with Dan and Phil, with a few days grace period, so they could get things in order at home before they left.
First of all, Louise was still going to go on her honeymoon. She argued with the boys on her wedding day for her to go with them, but it was futile. Sure this was her job, but Hawk and Dove weren't about to take her away from her new husband, no matter how good her argument was. It was compromised that she would go on the honeymoon and then join them in California as soon as it was over. Matt looked thrilled that he got to extend his time Louise, but Dan hoped he wasn't lying when he said he understood that Louise had to go. She had an obligation just like he did to his hospital and his patients.
Secondly, PJ and Chris were going to be in charge of the base while they were gone. They had a lot of things to oversee with so many Tier Ones leaving, but they insisted they could handle it as long as they could contact their teammates whenever they needed to. It was easy for PJ and Louise's lab techs to override the country-to-country restrictions on their mobile phones, so that was not going to be an issue.
Dodie and Evan, a new duo in the MGGB, volunteered to take care of Phil's fish.
The first deviation from the original plan came from Marcus Butler. He insisted that Niomi wasn't ready to be without them, but could definitely handle being in an airplane for nearly twelve hours. Marcus and Alfie had been the ones spending all their time with her, so Dan and Phil decided that she could join them as both her teachers were also leaving. Even Zoe was growing attached to her.
Troye Sivan was added to the roster, to round up their power threshold a bit. The scene in California wasn't an outright physical attack, but there was enough there to warrant that there was a person behind it, and they needed to be ready to fight anyway. Zoe and Marcus didn't often go on missions with intense combat, and no matter how receptive to training she was Niomi was definitely not ready, so they needed someone fighting ready just in case. Plus, several members of the Trifecta had asked about Troye, so he was a favorite among them anyway.
With the logistics of the trip either squared away or in the works, there were only two more things Hawk and Dove had to do. Firstly, they had to pack. They were both horrific procrastinators, so that would most likely get done the day their flight left. It wasn't a huge issue to be concerned with.
However, they also had to convince their therapist that they would be fine without an appointment for an indeterminate amount of time.
"We've gotten so much better," said Phil in what would turn out to be their last appointment, "We don't really fight anymore… at least not about things that hurt us."
"The separation thing has helped," Dan added.
"We even go home more often," the other continued. Home meaning their apartment, the place where they actually lived away from the MGGB Tower. And it was true, they had been acting more like a couple now, instead of Hawk and Dove sleeping in their office.
Dr. Rogers regarded them with the sort of calm expression that threatened to tear their coping mechanisms apart. But she clicked her pen, which Dan had come to learn meant that she wasn't writing anymore notes. "Your improvements have been spectacular, boys, really," she told them, "but I really have to advise against this trip because I'm a relationship counselor. I truly believe you'll be better off as a couple if you spend some time just being a couple. While I'm sure you will have a great time in California, it is for work, right?"
Dan and Phil looked at each other, and then both nodded at her. They had tried to explain their situation to her the best that they could without revealing any potentially secret information. They weren't sure how much the Trifecta wanted to share with the general public.
"I understand the two of you have a very unique job, so I'm not going to tell you not to go at all. Not that I could stop you," continued Dr. Rogers, "But I will say this. Be aware of each other while you work. Don't let it get to you. And… Try to stay positive. I hope to see how things are when you get back."
The night before their flight to LAX, Dan tossed clothes into his suitcase back at the apartment. His phone sat on top of the nightstand, his brother's voice on speaker.
"Are you sure you can't take me with you?" Adrian said, still sounding disappointed.
"I'm not going on vacation," Dan said as he picked up a t-shirt from the floor and sniffed it. He grimaced and tossed it in the hamper. "This is for work. It could be dangerous."
Adrian scoffed. "Phil would agree to take me."
"Well, Phil's not here, so you're shit out of luck."
"What?!" the younger one cried and Dan rolled his eyes. "You're not attached at the hip? Who knew. Not me."
Tossing a few more articles of clothing haphazardly into the suitcase, Dan said, "Shouldn't you be doing homework?"
"Hey, you called me."
"Yeah, yeah." He ended up having to sit on the top of the bag to get it to close. After the fact he realized he probably could have just folded things better, but it was too late for that. The Howell brothers continued their conversation and near the end the door opened and shit.
"Honey, I'm home!" Phil called, a little too loudly. Dan figured he must have earbuds in.
He peeked around a corner, and he was right. He waited until Phil had removed them. "Honey?"
Phil shrugged. "Do you hate it?"
Dan lifted a shoulder and went back to his room. "I'm gonna let you go now, Adrian. Tell mum and dad I said hi," he said. His brother started to protest so he could ask Phil if he could come to California, but Dan wasn't having it. "Bye Adrian!" he shouted and pressed the red button.
Phil leaned in the doorway. "Was he saying my name?" he asked curiously.
"Yeah, he's convinced you'd give in and we'd bring him with us," Dan replied.
His partner snorted. "We're not going on vacation–"
"–that's what I said!"
"–but I bet he would still have fun."
Dan shook his head. "You're a pushover. This is why they gave me the bird of prey."
Phil gasped dramatically, but thankfully still grinned. They had had an argument over this before; Phil had been frustrated one day that he wouldn't garner as much respect as Dan did because his name was Dove and actual doves were little white birds of peace. Dan had thought it was ridiculous to think that and of course that was the wrong thing to say. That argument had been a learning experience. Phil had smashed a glass of water for the first time just by making it too cold too fast.
"My shirts are nicer though," Phil said, pulling up the hem of his hoodie to show Dan his t-shirt.
It did say Dove on it, in a pretty cursive script. A small drawing of the namesake bird sat in the open curl of the D. "Did you buy your own merch?" Dan said, raising a brow.
"It's fan-made."
Scoffing, Dan shook his head. "Start packing, our flight leaves in the morning."
Phil just pouted. "You didn't pack for me?" he said.
"I'm your boyfriend, not your maid," Dan replied and a smile curved Phil's mouth, "I'm going to make dinner."
Dan made pasta while Phil packed. There were a couple complaints from both of them, but in the end, both tasks were mastered. However, it was rather late before either of them could find it within themselves to settle down to sleep. Dan had just folded his arms under his head when Phil looked back over at him.
"Hey, how's that thing?"
Dan furrowed his eyebrows. "What thing?"
"Remember that rash-looking-thing you had? Have you checked on it?" Phil continued.
He shook his head. Honestly, they had brushed it off and Dan had stopped worrying about it, especially because it hadn't been painful. He pushed the duvet down to his hips to expose his side and shifted slightly so he was in the light.
"Is it gone?"
Phil ran his fingers down Dan's side and he shivered at the light touch. Phil looked up with a little smirk and then removed his hand. "I don't see or feel anything. I think you're fine," he said.
"That's a plus," Dan replied. He pursed his lips. "Have you thought much about what's going on with the Trifecta?"
Phil frowned and shook his head. He had been at the Tower this evening before he walked in on the phone call with Adrian, working with a couple other team members to see if they could find anything. "We did everything we could think of. There's no trace anywhere for someone, or anything, called Clockwork that would be relevant to them."
"That's so weird."
"Super weird," he added, "Jim and Louise agree that to be able to shut down all the electronics in the base it would have had to be a very good hacker or a virus. So we think there's a person behind it."
"Well, I didn't think it was a fluke," said Dan.
"Better to have evidence," said Phil, shrugging the shoulder he wasn't lying on, "I also doubt it was a coincidence that leaders of the team were away from home."
"Oh, it can't be. And the 'strike one' crap? A person obviously wanted to draw attention to themselves," Dan agreed.
Phil nodded. "And it also implies that there will be more strikes."
"Hopefully the girls will know more once we get there. So we can prevent more attacks, at the very least, if we can't track the culprit."
Grumbling, Phil dug his face into his pillow. Dan looked on, amused, until he spoke again. "This is so stressful."
"This is what we signed up for," said the brunette and then leaned over to kiss Phil's temple, "Saving people's asses for a living."
Phil laughed a little and reached above Dan's head to grab one of his hands. "I thought I was just signing up for you," he said.
Dan's cheeks went pink. Man, not fighting sure was great. "Look how much you got. Plus me."
"I'm glad we decided on seeing a therapist," Phil muttered and pressed a kiss to Dan's knuckles, "I could live without my job. You I'd like to keep no matter what."
Dan smiled at him, his stomach alight with butterflies. Like their relationship was still new. "You must be exhausted. You're getting all mushy," he teased in response.
Blue eyes rolling, the other released Dan's hand. "Leave it to you to kill the moment."
"Shut up!" Dan said indignantly. Just to prove his point, he reached over with both hands to grab Phil's face and pull him in. With their lips locked and chests bare, the butterflies in Dan's stomach exploded in tiny little flames. That always happened. Dan would warm up from the inside out, and presumably Phil's body would do the same, and by the time they were done (no matter how long it went on for) the air was full of moisture from the temperature changes. They had yet to get the windows to fog, though.
"You're right," Phil added when they detached. Dan's eyes fluttered open. Phil started to move away and instinctively he tightened the grip he had in the black hair. "I'm tired. We have a long day tomorrow."
Dan groaned and looked over at the nightstand with the alarm clock atop it. "We do have to be in California in less than twelve hours."
Phil nodded, shifted away slightly, and pulled the covers up to his chin. "We should probably go to sleep then, huh?" he mumbled.
Dan closed his eyes. "Sleeping is so inconvenient."
Phil simply tucked himself into Dan's side and told him to shush. He settled in as well, breathing in the sweet smell of Phil's hair while he drifted off.
The team traveling to California the next day met at the ungodly hour of 5 AM at the airport. Both boys wore sweatpants, Phil wore his glasses, and Dan looked absolutely disheveled. To be fair, none of them looked their best to be on a plane for twelve hours, but that was beside the point. They also were not prepared for the airport to be full of people so early in the morning.
They did their best to fit in, but of course it didn't quite work.
An hour and half later they were on the plane, in business class. Better than coach, not as expensive as first class. It was nearly as comfortable as well.
Marcus and Niomi were in the row in front of Dan and Phil. Before take off, Marcus got on his knees and looked over the back of his seat at them. "I know something bad might be happening to the Trifecta, but I'm pretty excited," he told them.
Phil smiled. "We are too. Dan's brother wanted to come."
"You should have brought him, he could have hung out with Niomi," Marcus said to Dan. The latter just showed his palms in an exasperated motion and turned his head towards the window.
"I'll be fine, Marcus," Niomi piped up. The top of her blonde head could just barely be seen, "Maybe I'll actually learn something being there with the Americans."
Dan looked over at Phil, and they exchanged a look. They knew between them that Niomi was still new, and while she was good at not being a human magnet now, it still might be too early to be any sort of offensive. Marcus, of course, was in tune to this thought and just gave a little nod of agreement. She would get better. Hopefully being inside a giant metal plane would help with her restraint.
Marcus rolled his eyes and turned back around to sit properly in his seat.
Dan ended up being asleep for most of the plane ride, which was honestly exactly what he was hoping for. He hadn't really slept enough, in his opinion, the night before he had to get up at a time that was basically in the middle of the night. When he did wake up he couldn't tell what time it was but there were only seven out of twelve hours left to go.
When they landed in LAX, everyone else seemed to know where to go and Dan ended up just following along. They were headed outside for arrivals, and when they walked outside Dan was surprised at warm it was. There wasn't any chill in the air, and hardly any moisture, which was so different than he was used to in London. Also, the underpass was alive with car horns and brakes squealing and the smell of exhaust. That was reminiscent of home but that was about where the similarities ended.
"What now?" Alfie wondered.
"I believe we wait for our ride," Phil replied, "Mamrie told me that they're sending for a van to pick us up."
Troye scoffed. "We met them at the airport and they send someone else to get us? How rude."
Indeed, a big red van did come to pick them up, and it took a very long time for them to get there. Cars behind it were already honking before they had all squished in. Dan ended up squished in the middle between Phil and Zoe, which meant he had to lean quite dramatically to see the scenery out the window. Zoe was practically pressed to the glass.
"So, where is the Trifecta base?" Dan asked as they drove on what the Californians call the freeway.
"Downtown LA," said Zoe as she snapped photos through the window, "It's a pretty building, near town hall. I think we're staying at a hotel near there as well."
According to their driver, it took a record amount of time to pull up in front of the headquarters of the American Trifecta. The building was impressive; it had Greek columns. It also had a fence and a intercom, and it looked like the guard also standing in the front was a new addition. When the MGGB climbed out, however, they could see several of their friends rushing the gate.
Grace punched in a number and the gate slid open.
"Welcome to America!" Hannah shouted as they approached.
Hannah, Grace, Tyler, and Connor had all run out to welcome them. Alfie and Marcus were already going around to pull their luggage out. "Hey, don't worry, we have that covered," Grace told them.
"They're going right to your hotel," Connor added with a nod. He looked between Dan and Phil and he smiled at them. "I don't think we've ever met in purpose. Hawk and Dove, it's a pleasure."
Dan shook his hand first. "Dan, please," he said with a smile.
Troye nearly fell out of the van and then promptly hopped over. "I'm Troye. I've never been here before either," he said.
The blonde smiled. "I'm Connor Franta."
Hannah cleared her throat. "So, I know you just got here, but it's tour time!" she said, "And some updates."
Grace gestured grandly to the front of the HQ. "Welcome to our abode!"
So the MGGB followed. The foyer of the building looked like the lobby of an office building, complete with a secretary and several suited people going back and forth between the hallways on either side. "Those are CIA agents," Tyler explained to them, "We have a team of them there. They're our only wire to government regulated shit."
"Don't you run independently?" Niomi asked.
"Yep," he said with a nod, "But, some things get passed to us when they need some specialties."
Dan thought that didn't sound so bad, but the MGGB was completely government regulated. Dan and Phil had run of the place, but technically they did answer to the head of MI5.
Grace and Hannah led them all through the biggest door of the lobby and into a white hallway. "Most of these are offices, including for Grace, Mamrie, and I. Some of the others share one, and the very last door is the staircase to the labs. That's where it all went down," Grace explained, pointing.
"Where is Mamrie?" Zoe wondered.
"She didn't come in today," said Hannah with a frown, "She said she wasn't feeling well. Which is super weird, honestly, she never misses work. But we didn't question her."
They all went down the stairs to the basement floor, which was completely open like their own back home. The circuit boards that had been short-circuiting in the initial call with Connor went on for an entire expanse of wall. He pointed them towards the offending Clockwork monitor. It was unplugged.
"We didn't take any chances," he said softly.
Dan nodded and looked to Grace and Hannah. "Have you found anything else?" he asked.
The former shook her head. "We've had a bunch of our team and CIA agents look into it. But there hasn't been any more information, and no other signs of this Clockwork," she replied.
"You couldn't even track the signal?" Zoe asked.
Hannah shook her head. "It didn't have a signal, it was a virus."
"I asked our resources to do everything they can to find the source," Connor said, "But nothing's come back yet. I'm not sure they're doing anything." The girls rolled their eyes. "We're not particularly high on their priorities list at this point," he continued.
"How?" said Marcus, looking confused, "This is a secure facility and no one thinks that it being shut down with one virus isn't a priority?"
Hannah shrugged. "Not much we can do there. That's why we brought in you guys, so we have some help if something else happens, and to help with our regular missions while we try to sort this out."
Phil nodded. "We are open to doing whatever you need us to," he told them.
"Tomorrow when Mamrie's better we'll get you a couple mission reports to go over," Tyler added with a nod.
Connor went over to the door. "Zoe and Marcus, I can show you up to mission control," he said. The two mentioned exchanged a grin and followed him. Niomi lingered, looking a little nervous without Marcus. A cup of paperclips suddenly tipped over on a nearby desk.
"Feel free to go with them," said Tyler, waving his hands. She gave him a grateful smile and hurried out of the room. Tyler looked around at them. "I may not read minds, but I have a great intuition."
Hannah rolled her eyes with a good-natured smile and looked around at the rest of them. "Come on, we'll show you the rest of it. Before Ingrid gets back and kicks us out of her lab," she said. The boys followed, Troye sidled up next to Connor, and Dan got see how nice it was to have a real office building instead of a square highrise.
AN: I guess I'm not dead?
